The Lord whom you seek will come to his temple.
Thus says the Lord God:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the Lord whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the Lord,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
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Commentary on Mal 3:1-4
In this passage, from the fourth oracle in the Book of the Prophet Malachi ("My Messenger"), the prophet has visions of three personages. The prophet sees God directly intervening in sacred history as he did with the great prophets. In the light of the revealed Messiah, the prophet’s visions are interpreted as representing, first John the Baptist (“Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me”), and then of the coming of the Messiah (“And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek”). When these two revelatory events have occurred, the whole Law and Prophets are fulfilled, God's promise of salvation is given.
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord of hosts; he is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
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Commentary on Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10
In Psalm 24 we hear a longing for the coming of the Lord to his people. The psalmist gives us the image of the inanimate gates of the New Jerusalem, God’s Heavenly Kingdom welcoming the Lord of Hosts. For Christian purposes, we have God in the person of Jesus coming into the Temple. This second section of the song praises God as the true King of the people who leads them to victory over their foes. The song was sung as part of a liturgical procession recalling the transfer of the ark of the Covenant to the temple in Jerusalem. Again, for Christians the ark is analogous to the Blessed Virgin, the new ark who carries the savior of the world.
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GOSPEL
A sword will pierce your very soul.
Simeon came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
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Commentary on Lk 2:27-35
At the time Jesus is presented at the temple as required by strict Jewish Law, we find Simeon. He does two important things here – he first affirms the nativity story with his profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the one who came for all so that all might be renewed in Christ and in God the Father (“my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”).
The second of Simeon’s actions is to predict to Mary the difficulty her son will encounter in his ministry (“to be a sign that will be contradicted”) and the pain it will cause Mary herself:("and you yourself a sword will pierce").
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